Anyone have any tips on keeping regular street tires hooked at the track?
I got a few ideas from some of the guys including, avoid the water-box, don't do a burnout before launch and maybe lower the tire pressure a little bit...
Any other ideas??
Also how much should i lower the psi ? 5 lbs?
Running BF Goodrich Geforce sport 225/60/15
Thanks!!
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1991 Mustang GT, Mods : 255LPH HP walbro pump, 24lb Injectors, Borla Exaust and shorty headers, Caster Camber Plates, 80mm Pro-m Mass Air, UPR Boostmaster, Vortech V-1 SC-trim Supercharger Kit.
The best things I've found is to play with your launch. You'll have to find out for yourself what rpm to drop it at, how hard to throttle..etc. Just a live and learn kind of thing
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1994 Mustang GT 5.0
Mods to date: T5 swap, MGW shifter & Composite race knob, Ram clutch, flowmaster cat back system, BBK o/r h pipe, BBK equal length headers, BBK cold air intake
In the process of a gt40 install along with 4.10's and some other new goodies
I have never been able to hook at my home town drag strip without a burn out. My wife still runs street tires on her car, she will drive around the water box and back in untill her rear tires just hit the water then roll forward and let em smoke. I set her tire pressure around 20 psi. She runs nitto extreme zr 255/40zr17
The falkens that I had on my 83 always hooked better with a little burn out too, but every track is different. I think first5.0 is right and maybe you should try playing with your launch. Or get some drag radials..
As First 5.0 basically stated, you have to find the right launch point. I am not too familiar with launching an auto. To launch a man with street tires you have to feather the clutch. Don't dump the clutch. You don't need to do a lengthy burnout. I put the car in 2nd, rev the engine to about 5K RPMSs, then dump the clutch. You just want to "clean" the tires-get the pebbles off. As far as lowering airpressure, that's debatable. I have gotten my best 60' times and ET with the tire pressure around 25 PSI.
the secret to getting street tires to hook is throttle control
ps.... lower air pressure on you street tire will do nothing except wear them out.....
+1. You need DR's or slicks to really hook and go. If on street tires, definitely avoid the water box, i would still spin your tires for like a blip or 1 second, just to get any rocks that could be sticking to your tires or maybe a little water got on them. Almost like leaving a stop light and then getting on it. The best i could do on stock street tires was a 2.1 60'.
i hate when i go to the track and see 4 bangers burning the living crap out of their stock tires and they run a high 15. i just shake my head and want to give them advice but i'm sure they would think i was just being a d*ck.
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1995 Mustang GT-Heavily Modded-Sold 2003 Ford Lightning-Sold 1997 Saleen-5.4 conversion-Sold 2005 Mustang GT-Torch Red-Sold 2003 Mustang Cobra-Oxford White 2003 4Runner V8 Sport Edition 4X4
It's definitely all about throttle control. The right gearing doesn't hurt either. With 2.73s, I was always coming off the line burning the clutch trying to balance between spinning and bogging. It was pretty much guaranteed that I would bog, even if I spun a little when I left the line. This was good for 2.2 60-fts at best, I usually cut 2.3s.
4.10s allowed me to leave just off idle and get enough of a roll to avoid spinning before the revs came up. I could cut 2.0 60fts all day long like this.
I always drive around the waterbox. Once I had the 4.10s, it became easy to get some quick wheelspin while rolling up to pre-stage. I'd just thwap the throttle and spin any debris off of the tires. This probably provided me with no advantage, however.
Another questionable benefit was lowering tire pressure. I would usually drop from 35 psi to 25 psi and made some of my best runs with that 10psi drop. I really have no scientific proof that this does anything and may have only had a placebo effect on my psyche. Just avoid the waterbox, that will have the most adverse effect on your launch. If you really feel the urge to heat them up a bit, never drive straight through the box, always back into it.
Tips on keeping steet tires hooked at the track 
